Troy Williams: Time to rethink our outdated marijuana laws

Friday

Nov 30, 2018 at 5:57 PMNov 30, 2018 at 5:57 PM

State Rep. Kelly Alexander, a Mecklenburg Democrat, wants legislators to have a frank discussion about legalizing marijuana in 2019. Alexander believes the state’s county-by-county ABC system model would allow locally elected boards or voters the option to decide marijuana laws for their respective community. Under the North Carolina ABC system model for alcohol sales, some counties are dry and some are wet. Some are wet in some places and dry in others.

Marijuana is controversial even though some recent polling reveals 52 percent of Americans favor legalizing weed. About ten states allow pot for recreational use and another two dozen approve marijuana for medicinal purposes. Some North Carolina lawmakers are advocating softer laws when it comes to possession. A proposed bill would legalize possession of up to four ounces with no legal penalties.

The question of whether alcohol or marijuana is worse for health is in the middle of the debate. Neither alcohol nor pot smoking are good for health over the long term, though the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention document that alcohol is linked to some 88,000 deaths per year. Statistics on deaths related to marijuana are harder to come by. Additionally, health scientists at the National Institute on Drug Abuse admit that even with marijuana use affecting the cardiovascular system, heart rate and blood pressure, a person cannot fatally overdose on pot like they can on alcohol. Five minutes of alcohol binge-drinking can kill you.

Lurking in the background is the fact that marijuana is still illegal under federal law even in states that have decriminalized its recreational use. Under the scheduling system, the federal government classifies marijuana as a schedule 1 drug, meaning perceived to have no medical value and a high potential for abuse. The feds have pot in the same category as heroin and a higher class than cocaine and methamphetamine. Advocates have been lobbying Congress for decades to reschedule marijuana and it’s about time for them to get it done. It’s hard to measure which direction we’re headed with pot reform in this country: The Obama administration for eight years took a relaxed approach to marijuana while the Trump administration has made a stricter approach.

Probably one of the main reasons marijuana is still illegal in many places is law enforcement. Pot is the number one legal basis for law enforcement to search people in this country. The odor of marijuana alone gives law enforcement probable cause to search you, your person, your car or your home. Interestingly, marijuana usage rates are roughly the same between whites, blacks and Latinos. Sadly, people of color are over three times more likely to be arrested than whites. If this bothers you, it should, but don’t get angry with the messenger, study the data. Nationwide, the arrest statistics reveal one consistent trend: significant racial bias. There were more arrests for marijuana than any other drug. A person is arrested on a marijuana charge about every 37 seconds in America. Countless lives are being derailed and the negative consequences that accompany their charges are needlessly painful when you take into account that it might affect their ability to gain public housing, student aid and employment opportunities. The cost of marijuana is shared by the rest of society as well. Enforcing marijuana laws costs us about $3.6 billion a year. Even if we buy into enforcement investment from a fiscal perspective, there’s no argument that we are wasting resources because the so-called war on marijuana, to date, has never reduced its use and availability.

It took over 30 years for me to come to my conclusions about pot. I’m a proud former law enforcement officer with an advanced law enforcement certificate. I have two degrees in criminal justice, and I started as an undercover cop in high schools. In six years I worked my way to a special federal marshal assigned to a national drug task force. I never really thought marijuana was that dangerous, but I did believe it was a gateway drug for more unsafe stuff, so I bought into the rationale in the War against Marijuana. After I hung up the badge and gun, I tacked another six years on running a drug prevention program targeting at-risk youth. None of this makes me an expert, but I was afforded a unique perspective.

About ten years ago, I began to communicate with a group called Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP), formerly called Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. LEAP is a national nonprofit of current and former police, judges, prosecutors and other criminal justice professionals who use their knowledge to advance drug policy and criminal justice solutions that enhance public safety. They previously focused on ending the War on Drugs and decriminalizing marijuana, but last year they expanded a broader range of criminal justice issues. Information can change your thinking, and LEAP changed mine. I regret the role I played in the war on marijuana. Unwittingly, I was part of the problem, although I was following the law and doing my job. Some things need to change with the times and our current marijuana law is one of them.

Troy Williams is a legal analyst and criminal defense investigator. He is a WIDU radio co-host on Thursdays from 11 a.m. to noon. He can be reached at talk2troywilliams@yahoo.com.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.

Contact Us

Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted.
The Fayetteville Observer ~ 458 Whitfield St., Fayetteville, NC 28302 ~ Privacy Policy ~ Terms Of Service